>> the c-span cities tour has made 12 stops. -- 24 stops. our look at some of the highlights continues as we take you to milwaukee, wisconsin. >> the socialist party started here in milwaukee in 1897 under the leadership of victor berger and it took off from there. there were a lot of factors that led to the formation of the socialist party here. there was this huge influx of german immigrants and to -- into milwaukee.

it was becoming the machine shop of the world. there were numerous factors around the city. so you had this huge pool of working-class, immigrant workers who were very receptive to a message that promise to benefit the working class. they could see this wide gap between the owners and the working-class people who are laboring for pennies. they could see that working conditions were not good. they worked in the hottest, dirtiest, most grungy jobs available. they were hoping socialists could make those conditions better. socialism means different things to different people. it is an economic system that

believes there is going to be a collapse of the capitalist system. and it will be replaced by a collectivist state. the working-class people will be controlling the means of production and distribution. it will usher in this golden age in which people are equal. there will not be a wide gap between the halves and the haves and the have-nots. berger is the one who most people consider to be the key figure in the development of socialism in milwaukee. milwaukee was this loose affiliation of labor unions, each had their own agenda. there were political groups that were akin to socialism.

but they were not all that effective. it was berger who brought all this disparate groups together. he also tweaked socialist theory a little bit. he realized for it to take root in milwaukee, you had to make it a little more amenable to americans. that is why they had the socialists focus on these issues. street lighting, sewers, things of that nature. he did not believe that a socialist state had to go through a violent revolution to be achieved. he thought it could be achieved gradually and peacefully through the ballot box. he bought a struggling newspaper

and became an editor for it. it was through those vehicles that he got out the word about socialism. he was very successful at that. we have moved into the research library part of the historical society. i have pulled a lot of items related to socialists there. this first item is campaign leaflet in 1898. the party was born in 1897 and they immediately fielded several candidates for city offices. they did that -- not get very far. gradually, from that point on, socialists did better and better through the next several

elections. milwaukee, at the turn-of-the-century, was undergoing some really rapid changes because of industrialization and this huge influx of immigrants. you are dealing with overcrowding, pollution, crime. the socialists were compelled to address all of these things. berger was the first socialist elected to congress in 1910. it was part of a sweeping victory for the socialists, in large part because of the question of the previous administration. there was all sides of graft and backroom dealings. he also pushed milwaukee as a wide open, wild city with

gambling, saloons, liquor, prostitution. all of those things combined to help socialists ride this wave into power. in 1910, they won control of city hall. they won a number of county seats. even state seats. berger was elected to u.s. congress. the party put out this calendar milwaukee's success as far as advancing the socialist movement. it starts at the bottom with city hall and all the people there,n offices including his wife, who was elected to the school board. level and then moving on to the state capital in madison. u.s. capitolo the

in washington, d.c. socialists had a contentious relationship with milwaukee streetcar company. on thed a monopoly system in milwaukee. they battled them for years. they were always a target for the socialists. milwaukeeet shows how is being cheated by that monopoly of the streetcar company. pay $.11hat we had to when other cities were playing three cents or four cents for five cents as far as ridership and the cost per unit. the ownership of the streetcar company did not change until the 1930's.

not able tots were gain public control over the streetcar system. stop them from trying. from the beginning, people viewed socialism with a little bit of trepidation. there were all sorts of fears that they were going to take away private property or they were bent on getting rid of religion altogether or they were going to make make everybody the individualke away initiative. -- things that made them successful in a capitalist society. the socialists wanted to dispel all of those criticisms and arguments so they put out this pamphlet saying, showing that they do not want to divide up the wealth. they want to have public

control, worker control of certain and us trees like public utilities -- certain industries like public utilities and things that were supposed to benefit the public in general. they will not get rid of private property. they don't have anything against religion. their argument is that socialism has nothing to do with religion. it is strictly an economic system. meant to improve the welfare of all working-class. in 1912, a lot of the socialists election in 1910, were voted out of office. the established democratic and republican parties created a fusion ticket to join faith -- -- join forces and not split the electorate.

what was creative was that a nonpartisan primary ballot and as you can see, they have -- nothing but names. none of the political parties are indicated. this must have been a bewildering ballot for people voting. it is a list of names. unless you are up on each individual running for a specific office, you are not going to know which party you are voting for. you could not a straight party ticket. there were things like that that helped usher the socialists out of office. berger focuses his energies on newspaper editing and ends up running the socialist party here in milwaukee. he was reelected to congress in 1918 even though he had been indicted by a grand jury for

violating the espionage act. world war i, it was a disaster for the socialist party. not only in milwaukee but around the country. the socialist opposed all wars as capitalist ventures to dominate world markets and increase profits, that kind of thing. the milwaukee socialists, for the most part, were no different. in this campaign poster from 1916, the united states was not even in the war yet. but there was this growing anti-german sentiment in the country. are saying,ts starve the war and feed america. wilsonre urging woodrow to establish a complete embargo against the belligerents in world war i.

they did not want send food overseas to the germans or the british. of what theytical saw as wilson's favoritism towards the french and british allies. they grew increasingly critical of wilson and his war policies. there was the sedition act that passed that made it a crime to make statements against the war effort. berger, in several editorialists, said this was a rich man's war and the poor men are fighting. that was enough to get him indicted. once the war had ended and passion died down a little bit and common sense prevailed, he was finally admitted.

he remained in congress until he was killed in 1929. this is an interesting record. this is the coroner's inquest for berger. from august of 1929. he was hit, struck by a streetcar and killed. that thet is irony streetcar company he had fought against for years and years was finally what did him in. berger was recognized by friends and foes alike as being one of the key figures in milwaukee. his funeral was a massive gathering. everybody paid their respects. they may have disagreed with his

policies, but no one doubted how much he wanted to help the working class people. the socialist movement ushered in a long tradition now of good, honest, efficient government. later, socialist mayors were recognized as honest, decent human beings. that became an expectation among voters in milwaukee. one of the things that milwaukee socialists demonstrated is that it could work. it was not this radical system that was bent on destroying the current economic structure of the united states.

they were very fiscally conservative, which fits in with milwaukee's reputation of good frugal germans. it did work here in milwaukee because milwaukee was recognized very often as one of the best governed cities in the country, one of the healthiest, one of the safest. >> join us every first and third weekend of the month as the c-span cities tour textbook tv and american history tv on the road as we explore the american story. coming up between now and the end of the year, we continue our travels with visits to cities in wyoming, ohio, michigan, south dakota, colorado, indiana, and many more.

you can watch videos from any of our stops by going to c-span.org citiestour /.they were very bride wheels compares the careers in leadership start -- want tof the things i make sure before we go into our , is to thank those of you who have come from other and some of our supporters. one of the people not with us today but is a life member an honorary member of our board is james robinson junior. he has had some health issues but he is recovering and i know he is back on the speaker circuit.